Touching Sky
by Baine
Summary: I want—I just want a way to be closer to the sky. Maybe if I can reach out and touch it...Maybe I can be closer to him.


Touching Sky

Chapter 1/1  
By Baine  
Email: ladybaine at gmail dotcom

First written & posted July 18, 2006

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **SPOILER WARNING!!** Spoilers abound in the story that you are about to read. This story takes place after the series ended [or the first season if they decide to continue the series past the first arc of the books. If you have not finished watching _Ginban_, please do so at this time before proceeding any further. (Besides, it's only twelve episodes atm!!)

If this isn't the first piece of fanfiction for _Ginban_, then it's one of the first. There wasn't even a category on FFNet when I wrote it. If you haven't seen this series, check it out! It's only 12 episodes and was fansubbed by C1Anime. It aired around the same time that the Torino 2006 Olympics took place and centers around a female figure skater named Tazusa.

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Touching Sky  
By Baine  
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Liquid sunshine spilled into the nearby lake, creating a fractured reflection as Sakurano Tazusa peered into its smooth surface. She grimaced at herself and released the stone she had been holding, watching forlornly as it skimmed the water, disturbing the calm and creating a small ripple of chaos in its wake. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her small body as a cool morning breeze blew by, causing violet-black strands of hair to fall into her amethyst eyes.

When she opened them again, the lake in front of her glistened silver as the ice reflected the sun. Laughter echoed through the meadow and she could hear the hum of skates. All she had to do was reach out and she would be able to touch him again, have him hold her and tell her—

Her eyes widened in surprised as she plummeted into the lake, dousing herself with water. She wiped away the hair now clinging to her damp face and pulled herself up to the bank.

She had been so wrapped up in her memories that she forgot the fact that it wasn't possible for the lake to still be frozen in the middle of August. She glanced into the sky as a plane flew overhead. _What I wouldn't give to fly again...this time for real._

Aloud, she murmured, "Oh, Peet...if only you were here. Maybe then I wouldn't feel so..._lost_."

She sat down under a nearby sakura tree, basking under the sun until her clothes were dry. _If only my heart could feel so warm..._

She looked up at the sun, losing herself in her memories once more, resurfacing only as another plane flew overhead. She traced its pattern with her eyes, watching it weave its way across the sky in a straight line before dipping low and vanishing from sight.

She bit her lip thoughtfully before nodding her head decisively and getting to her feet. "It's time for me to stop feeling sorry for myself. I mean, it's already been half a year. This has to end! I won't be timid anymore!"

She marched decisively across the loping bank and over the hill, walking until she came to the local airbase. She saw a man with sandy-blond hair hunched over a pile of cargo and her vision blurred. As he turned to face her, she strained to see the sapphire-colored eyes imprinted in her mind, and for a moment, she saw him grinning at her as he threw down the cargo and came towards her, a lopsided grin lighting up his face. He was even more adorable than when she had seen him last! She raised her arm to wave, a huge smile plastered to her face, only to falter as she blinked and saw that the man's face had transformed into that of a middle-aged man with heavy wrinkles across his brow.

"What can I do fer yah, girlie?" he asked, wiping a beefy hand across his sweat-laden face.

"Err...nothing. I was just looking around."

"Well, look elsewhere—I can't be lookin' out fer yah. This ain't no playground, sweetheart."

"I know. I just..." She let out her breath and looked down at her feet. "I was just wondering if people can take flight lessons here."

"Flight lessons? Why would'ja wanna take—" He wiped his hands against his pants and gave her a closer look. "Hey, wait a second...ain'tchyou that skater gal?" he asked, squinting up at her as he shielded his eyes from the sun.

"That's right," she replied, her smile slipping from her face.

"What'cha doin' here? This ain't no place fer a gal like you!"

She shrugged her shoulders delicately. "I just...felt like trying something new."

"Well, planes're dang'rous, girlie! I don't want no lawsuit being filed 'gainst me if'en somethin' goes a-wrong!"

"Nothing will go wrong on a day as perfect as this. Besides, I have the money." She dug her checkbook and pen from her purse and began to fill out a blank check. Her pen hovered over the line as she looked up at him. "What do you say, sir? Will you let me fly with you today? Please?"

He looked around at the empty field. "I'm a-on Candid Camera, ain't I?"

"No, sir! I just...this is something that I really want to do."

"Look, I don't usually—"

"I want—I just want a way to be closer to the sky. Maybe if I can reach out and touch it..."

_...Maybe I can be closer to **him**_.

His gaze softened as he gazed down into her upturned face. Y'know, I have a lil' gal 'bout yer age, mebbe a bit older. She always wanted a-te fly wit me, but I's always be sayin' no. Now that she's a-older, she don't wanta fly wit her ole' pa no more. Makes me sad, it does."

He threw the box that he was holding into the plane with the rest of the cargo and turned to observe her once more. "Well, whatcha lollygagging about fer? If ye're comin,' get'on up. I 'aven't got all day, ye know!"

A large smile broke across Tazusa's face. She reached for his outstretched hand and climbed into the small plane. Today, her adventure would begin.

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Puffy clouds blanketed the sky, floating across on wisps of air and forming images of boys with dancing eyes. Tazusa peered out the window, her face smushed against the glass and her hands clinging to the wall of the plane. _Peet__, I can feel you...is this where you've been hiding from me?_ Her eyes closed instinctively as the plane dipped towards the earth.

"Ye scared, girlie?" the man, Hiro, asked, glancing back at her in concern. Ye're not about te puke, are'ya? Don't ferget, ye was the one that a-wanted ta come up here te begin wit!"

"I know. I won't puke, honest. I just…sometimes I wonder how he could do all of those fancy tricks while flying, you know? He never got sick, either."

"Who, yer boyfriend?"

She shrugged her shoulders forlornly. Just this guy I once knew."

He smiled sympathetically. "Yous have a fallin' out?"

"Mmm...we just went our separate ways. Being so high in the sky...I feel close to him again."

"The sky has a way of doin' that to ye. Up here, it's just ye and nature as one. It's a good place to clear yer mind and come to terms wit things."

"I agree." She smiled sadly and stared out the window once again, watching as the specks in the distance grew larger and became identifiable once more. "Thank you again for bringing me up here today."

"Ye know, I wound up havin' a nice time, too. Ye're a sweet gal." He tilted his head at her. "I can see why ye're a skater—ye can't keep yer feet on the ground, can ye?"

She smiled shyly. "No, I guess not."

"I saw ye skatin' o'er in Torino, ye know. Ye was as light as-a bird! Ye jumped so high that I was su'prised ye didn't fly right into the sky! It was just beautiful, I tell ye—Just beautiful! I turned to my missus and I goes, 'that gal, she has the wings o' an angel, she does!' We was mighty upset when they gypped ye of yer medal. No sir, that there judgin' wasn't no fair at all."

"Well, I had fun that night. That's what counts."

"So it is, girlie. So it is." He turned his wheel slightly to the left. "Now hold on tight, cuz we'se about to bump on down to th' ground!" He turned to concentrate on his landing, bringing his small freight plane to a small stop. "Welcome to Hokkaido, girlie. This 'ere's where I grew up, it is."

He opened the plane's side door and swung his legs to the ground, reaching inside to help Tazusa to the ground. "Why don'tcha come back to the house wit me, meet my wife and kids?"

"Oh, I don't know..."

"I a-told ye that I wouldn't be able te fly back today, ye know. Stayin' at our place fer free is loads cheaper than a-stayin' at a flee-ridden motel."

"True..."

"Oh, look!" He pointed towards the small white Mitsubishi coming towards them from across the field. "That there's me son now."

The car pulled to a stop and the door swung up. A tall, fit man unraveled himself from the car. He removed the blue baseball cap from his head to shake out his sandy-blond hair before shoving it back on and heading towards Hiro and Tazusa, his hand lifted in greeting as his sapphire-blue eyes sparkled happily.

"Whatta ye say, girlie? Ye comin' er not?"

Tazusa stared at the approaching guy, observing his slim physique and losing herself in her memories once more. Her breath caught as he stopped in front of her, an inquisitive smile on his face. Her eyes glazed over and her eyes took in the familiar contours of his face. With a shaky breath, she nodded her head, eyes still locked on his son's visage. "Alright, Hiro-san. I'll go."

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Author's Notes:

[July 18, 2006 as written on the LJ Community SummerFlinging for a recent challenge!

The end of this anime made me so sad that I wanted to explore the characters a little further! My writing is a bit rusty b/c I haven't had time to write anything in so long, plus, I was originally scheduled to post my story on the 18th, but when I looked at the email just now, it was changed to today, so I had to rush my ending. Gomen nasai! bows deeply Sorry this was posted so late at night!! I didn't realize that my date had been changed[This is actually my third story for this challenge, but it's the only one to make it all the way to completion...I still wish I had done more with it, though!

Oooh, and I was also playing with the use of dialect in this story. Sorry if it got too distracting at times!

PS—Does anyone know if there are translations/scanlations for the books online? I'd love to read it and see what REALLY happens next!!

**Updated Clarification:**

Wow. Can I just say wow? I never, ever dreamed that I'd have so many reviews for this fic. I'm so glad to know that there are more _Ginban_lovers out there and that I'm not alone.

Every one of you who has reviewed has made me so happy. For the first time, they've even inspired me. Literally. I went back and re-watched episodes because my fingers were twitching to write more.

In fact, I have a couple of ideas in the works, one of which may have multiple chapters. I'm only a couple of pages into it, though, so I'm not sure.

I'd like to say, though, that I have no intentions of continuing "Touching Sky." I wrote it as a one-shot and left the ending ambiguous on purpose. I've had people ask, "Is he Peet?" and this is my answer: "It's up to you as the reader." I wanted to create a story with an ending that was up to interpretation. If you want it to be Peet or a reincarnation, it is. If not, it isn't.

I think (I hope) that I've constructed the story in such a way that it leaves you feeling as mixed up as Tazusa is. Throughout the fic, she's weaving in and out of reality, so she could either be daydreaming once more at the end or seeing something for real. I very purposely ended it this way and threaded the story to lead to this point, and I'm really happy that my decision has struck a chord with so many of you!

For the story that I'm working on now, there will be a much happier ending. I have another idea or two up my sleeve after that one, but they're really vague. I haven't had a lot of time to write, recently, and when I have, my story _As We Stumble Along_ for my main fandom has been shoving tomatoes down my throat until I give in to it!

My other response to a couple of the reviews that have been left: Yes, there are novels (kind of like YA books) of _Ginban_ in Japan, but unfortunately, I haven't read these. I don't know enough Japanese to do so. I haven't been able to find summaries or translations on the internet, either, so I can't provide you with links. I'm so sorry! If I ever can, I will certainly let you all know! There is a company that recently started to publish some of these types of novels, though. I was thinking about e-mailing them to see if they'd consider _Ginban_. If enough people are interested, perhaps we can start a campaign. Please let me know if you are!

Thank you again to everyone that has responded to my story. I hope to post something else if I can write it this month in honor of the one-year anniversary of "Touching Sky," but I can't promise. If I do write it, however, I hope that you continue to read and enjoy my works.

Thank you so much for supporting my writing and taking the time to tell me what you think. It's all of you who have given me inspiration to come home to this wonderful series (Seriously. Reviews have NEVER inspired me to do something or not do something before. Y'all have given me your warm, caring feelings!).

**DISCLAIMER:** _Ginban__ Kaleidoscope_ is the property of Kaibara Rei. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

Like it? Hate it? I'm the one to talk to! Hit the little review button or Email ladybaine at gmail dot com today!

**«·´·.(·.¸(·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·).·´·»  
«·´¨·.¸¸. Baine.¸¸.·¨·»  
«·´·.(¸.·´(¸.· ·.¸)·.¸).·´·»**


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